Carr defends efforts to secure Bali Nine clemency

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan wait in a holding cell at Denpasar Court.

Darren Whiteside: Reuters

Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr says the government has repeatedly appealed for the Bali Nine drug smugglers who face the death penalty to be spared.

Convicted smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran have appealed to the Australian Government to intervene in their case, amid fears that their death sentences may be carried out this year.

In an interview with News Limited, the pair told of their terror at being killed by firing squad and expressed remorse over their actions.

Senator Carr says his government has persistently urged for the pair to be spared, but the final decision rests with the Indonesian president.

"We can make representations, but we haven't got the key to their cells in our bottom drawers," he said.

"There hasn't been a meeting the prime minister's had with the Indonesian president or one that I've had with the foreign minister where I haven't raised the case for clemency."

Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced to death in 2006 after attempting to smuggle millions of dollars worth of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.

They have established a drug rehabilitation program at the Kerobokan Prison where they are jailed, and say they are using their situation to do some good.

In the interview, Chan described the moment he fears most.

"Once you're taken out of your cell, they take you to a pretty remote area and from there they just line you up and kind of just shoot at your heart," he said.

Sukumaran expressed his remorse for his involvement in the heroin smuggling operation.

"Being responsible for all this, you know like ruining how many people's lives, and their family's lives, and putting them in...like this endless situation that seems like there's no way out of," he said.